DBA 3.0 armies, projects and campaigns set in the ancient, medieval and fantasy periods.

Friday, 24 August 2018

939 AD, refighting the Battle of Trans-la- Fôret

Viking scouts had reported the approach of a Breton
army. Deploying their troops in three groups, with the right flank resting on
the crest of a nearby hill and the left flank rested on the fort. Any attempt
by the Breton to turn the Viking left would be foiled by the presence of the
fort offering them no further option that to attack the hill position.

Alan II divided his army into three divisions; and
posted the militia and skirmishers on the left, Breton cavalry in centre leaving
all the Breton light horse to take a position to the far right of some dense
wood.

The militia were instructed to demonstrate in front of
the hill while the while the light horse would attempt to turn the Viking left
flank. This left the Breton cavalry to deploy in front of the Viking centre and
await the proper time to make their assault. Anticipating this, the three
separate Viking lines wheeled right to form a contiguous line while a reserve
detachment were rushed to support the left flank.

Seeing the Breton militia were not willing to make an
assault, the Vikings on the hill moved further downhill hoping to provoke them into
action. The timely arrival of the reserves frustrated Alan II but confident
that the light horse would reach some success he brought forward the remainder
of the cavalry to extend the centre line.

The wait was over and the Breton cavalry launched
their attack on the Viking centre. This attack caught the Vikings off guard as
their entire line recoiled back from the charge. The Vikings on the left
anticipating an attack by Breton light horse were caught off guard by an assault
by Breton cavalry coming from the centre.

Despite the casualties received in that first exchange
(0 - 1) the Breton cavalry reformed to make a second charge. A second charge sent
Viking line back on their heels but they did not break, however elsewhere, the situation took a desperate turn as the
Breton cavalry supported by light horse had broke the Viking left (2 – 1). Viking
survivors retreated to form a new line.

The collapse of the Viking left freed many Breton
cavalry and light horse to look for new targets. Seeing their commander was
hard pressed, Breton light horse fell on the rear ranks of the Vikings locked
in combat. This move sealed the fate of the Vikings and they fled the field
leaving their dead behind (4 – 1).

Conclusion

This concludes the series of Dark Age scenarios set in
the 9th and 10th century. I had selected some 30 battles and
trimmed these down to a possible 10 that I could feasibly do. The battles
selected could easily be fought with a standard size army of twelve elements
with a possible inclusion of allies. Those battles that reached the final
selection were those for which I had in my DBA collection and required no new
figures. That said, the Welsh were the only exception to this as I found the
battles of Conwy and Buttington interesting to do.

We enjoy playing historical battles so this series proved
a good exercise in how quickly I could translate obscure text to create a
playable DBA game. No changes to the rules were made with the exception of a
change of deployment; Leuven and Buttington required the defender to set up in
the middle of the board and Brenta placed the attacker closer to the enemy camp
to simulate a level of surprise. These did require an amount of play test but
we found the end result worked well.

5 comments:

I also think that your adaptations of what you discovered in your research (including looking for possible spots for where battles may have occurred), into DBA sized battles, should inspire others to follow suit.

I hope others are inspired to write their own scenarios. The availability of tools such as, Google Maps (terrain), Google Translate and e-books make the task of investigation a much easier process. And fun as well.